No Replacement

I’ve grown up and lived around engines my whole life. We can talk dirt bikes, lawn mowers, cars, tractors, forklifts, or anything with an engine in between and I have probably worked on it or am familiar with it. Within this world there is a statement that mechanics would find familiar. This statement is, there is no replacement for displacement. You might ask, what is the word does this mean. It means this; The size of an engine is extremely important to its power output. It means that if you have 8 cylinders, it’s very hard to overcome the power loss with a 6-cylinder engine. So, a person with the 6-cylinder engine has to add a turbo or a supercharger to make up for the loss of size as compared to the 8-cylinder engine. Are you wondering what this has to do with scripture? I’m glad you wondered. I teach bible doctrine every Sunday. I stress the importance of Bible doctrine every Sunday. I encourage our church to treat the Bible is if it’s a service manual for our lives. It is the curriculum that we are to be taught with and study for a proper understanding of our purpose and responsibility in this life and our future in heavenly places. There is NO REPLACEMENT FOR DOCTRINE. If your pastor replaces Bible doctrine with anything else, he is giving you a counterfeit. If you hear Bible doctrine taught and decide you don’t like it, you are asking to be taught a counterfeit of the one thing you MUST HAVE to deal with the trials and troubles you encounter in this life. Paul’s epistles are packed full of doctrine that we are to apply to our daily lives. By applying these doctrines to our lives, we can properly understand the trials we face day to day. There is NO replacement for a proper understanding of Bible doctrine. When your engine is too small and you start adding performance parts to try to make up for the loss of displacement, you start to put additional stress on every part of that engine. A supercharger is nice but now you need a stronger crankshaft and connecting rods. A turbo is a nice addition but now other components in the engine need to be higher quality to endure the stress they will encounter. Christians today don’t know correct Bible doctrine because preachers don’t know it either. Paul tells us to be established as a mature Christian it takes being established in proper Bible doctrine.

Rom 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

Scripture want’s us established. Scripture want’s us stable. We are to be built up and grown-up Christians. This cannot happen outside of a constant diet of correct Bible doctrine. I have been criticized for putting too much emphasis on doctrine. So be it. There is no replacement for a proper understanding of why things happen in our lives and how to properly deal with these things as they happen. There is nothing more practical we can learn than a proper understanding of Bible doctrine. A proper foundation will give us the strength we need in times of trouble. It will give us the comfort we need in times of pain. It gives our kids the fortitude to stand when others are falling. Right division has the answers when man’s wisdom fails. There is no right doctrine taught without following Paul's instructions to rightly divide the Bible. If you don't rightly divide your getting a counterfeit.